Experts call for amending the law to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers, and all parties should work together to curb the spread of hidden overtime in the digital age

2023-05-30

It seems like we're off work, and it seems like we're not off work. More and more people are discovering that although they have left their workplace, they are still in a working state. Various instant messaging software on mobile phones remain online, and employers can assign work tasks to workers at any time through chat tools such as WeChat, or use remote office software to hold work meetings at any time. If there is no timely response, workers will be criticized and even dismissed. With the development of instant communication technology, the convenience of communication and communication has broken the physical space and time limitations of traditional workplaces, and also blurred the boundary between work time and rest time, causing work time to constantly "infiltrate" into workers' rest time. Using mobile phones to handle work and maintain online replies has become a common practice for many people. Invisible overtime undoubtedly harms the rights and interests of workers, so how can we avoid the spread of invisible overtime in the digital age? Some industry experts recently pointed out in an interview with a reporter from Rule of Law Daily that in the context of the digital era, labor forms are becoming more flexible, and the working hour system is becoming more flexible. It is necessary to focus on the identification and standardization of working hours. The protection of workers' rights and interests has become a systematic project. It is recommended to improve labor laws and regulations as soon as possible to protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers. Multiple reasons have led to the spread of invisible overtime. In fact, the phenomenon of invisible overtime is not a new problem. In the context of the digital age, the new phenomenon of invisible overtime is constantly spreading. The reporter conducted a follow-up on whether to reply to work related content in the work group after work, and most respondents had this experience. When asked if overtime is considered, almost no one stated that they have received overtime pay as a result. During the reporter's investigation, it was also found that in practice, some employers believe that occasionally assigning work tasks after work is not considered overtime, but rather within the scope of the worker's job responsibilities. Some employers have incomplete internal overtime management systems that do not accurately record workers' working hours outside the workplace, or although there is an overtime approval system, it is merely non-existent. Some employers, without the approval of the labor administrative department, arbitrarily agree on an irregular working schedule with workers and use it as a basis to arrange their working hours without paying overtime pay. It is worth noting that the Beijing Third Intermediate People's Court has recently concluded a labor dispute case, and the court has finally determined that employees who work for a long time outside of work hours or workplace through social media such as WeChat belong to invisible overtime, and employers should pay overtime fees to the employees. Even with judicial practice support, many interviewees have expressed to reporters that they do not say "no" to invisible overtime and dare not claim overtime pay from employers due to concerns about adverse treatment or even dismissal from them. When it comes to the increasingly common phenomenon of invisible overtime but almost no overtime pay, Ban Xiaohui, an associate professor at the School of Law at Wuhan University, analyzed and pointed out that in addition to employers' weak awareness of working hours compliance and workers' weak awareness or willingness to protect their rights, inadequate labor supervision and law enforcement are also reasons that cannot be ignored. Due to the weak enforcement force of labor supervision and limited punishment methods, law enforcement agencies often find it difficult to monitor when workers do not actively file complaints

Edit:Zhou Shu    Responsible editor:Wang Chen

Source:legaldaily.com

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